Canucks overcome loss of Brock Boeser to injury in win over Kings
Quinn Hughes had a goal and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks overcame the loss of top scorer Brock Boeser to beat the Kings 4-2 on Thursday night.
Boeser, who scored a career-high 40 goals last season and leads Vancouver with six goals this year, did not return after taking an illegal check to the head from Kings forward Tanner Jeannot.
Jeannot was suspended three games by the NHL on Friday for the illegal hit.
Conor Garland scored on the subsequent five-minute power play after Jeannot received a match penalty, tying the score 1-1. Jake DeBrusk and J.T. Miller also scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 25 saves.
Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and the Kings beat the Minnesota Wild.
Quinton Byfield and Vladislav Gavrikov scored for Kings, and Darcy Kuemper finished with 19 saves.
Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson also left the game because of injury. He was cut badly after taking Filip Hronek’s shot to the face late in the second period.
Takeaways
Canucks: If Boeser is out for any length of time, it would be terribly damaging to Vancouver’s hopes of reaching the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2011-12 and 2012-13.
Kings: Byfield scored for the second straight game after failing to find the net for the first 13.
Key moment: Hughes showed off some fancy footwork to create separation, allowing him to fire a shot from distance that gave the Canucks a 3-1 lead early in the third period.
Key stat: Hughes has a goal and five assists in his past three games, and his 14 points puts him third among defensemen behind Colorado’s Cale Makar (25) and Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey (16).
Up next: The Canucks face the Oilers on Saturday to start a six-game homestand, and the Kings host the Blue Jackets.
